Songs in Red and Gray

Songs in Red and Gray is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. It was released on September 25, 2001, by A&M Records.

Songs in Red and Gray
Studio album by Suzanne Vega
Released	September 25, 2001
Recorded	November 2000 – May 2001
Studio	Chung King, Sear Sound, Shelter Island Sound, Looking Glass Studio (New York)
Genre	Folk rock[1] folk pop[2]
Length	45:31
Label	A&M
Producer	Rupert Hine
Suzanne Vega chronology
Tried & True: The Best of Suzanne Vega (1998) Songs in Red and Gray (2001) Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega (2003)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	(favorable)[4]
Blender	[3]
Robert Christgau	[5]
E! Online	B+[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[6]
Mojo	[3]
Q	[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[7]

Music and lyrics

On Songs in Red and Gray, Vega returns to her signature acoustic folk-pop sound, shedding the experiments she had done in the 1990s with her husband, record producer Mitchell Froom.^[2] New producer Rupert Hine shows some traces of his past work with '80s new wave bands by employing electronic beats,^[4] but mostly allows Vega's voice and guitar to dominate in a manner reminiscent of her debut album and its 1987 follow-up, Solitude Standing.^[2][4]

Most of the songs, like "Widow's Walk" and "If I Were a Weapon", deal with the dissolution of Vega's marriage with Froom.^[2][4][8] Her "calm, hushed, clear singing"^[2] belies the album's "mood of heartbroken defiance".^[4] The lyrics are "the most personally revealing songs she has written" in her career.^[8]

Track listing

Songs in Red and Gray track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Penitent"	4:16
2.	"Widow's Walk"	3:33
3.	"(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May"	3:47
4.	"It Makes Me Wonder"	4:00
5.	"Soap and Water"	3:03
6.	"Songs in Red and Gray"	4:18
7.	"Last Year's Troubles"	3:35
8.	"Priscilla"	4:14
9.	"If I Were a Weapon"	2:45
10.	"Harbor Song"	4:18
11.	"Machine Ballerina"	2:57
12.	"Solitaire"	2:10
13.	"St. Clare"	2:30
Total length:		45:31

All tracks are written by Suzanne Vega except "St. Clare" written by Jack Hardy.

Bonus track (Japanese edition)

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Golden"	3:53
Total length:		49:24

Personnel

• Suzanne Vega – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Gerry Leonard – electric and acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mandolin, zither
• Rupert Hine – keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, drum programming
• Mike Visceglia – bass guitar
• Nik Pugh – drum programming, synth lead
• Jay Bellerose – drums
• Matt Johnson – drums
• Doug Yowell – drums, percussion
• Pamela Sue Man – backing vocals, harmony vocals
• Elizabeth Taubman – harmony vocals
• Stephen W Tayler – recording and mixing engineer

Charts

Chart performance for Songs in Red and Gray

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[9]	187
French Albums (SNEP)[10]	36
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11]	53
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12]	34
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[13]	31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	47
UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[15]	100
US Billboard 200[16]	178